The socioeconomic impact of climate-related hazards: flash flood impact assessment in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Small-scale flash flood events are climate-related disasters which can put multiple aspects of the system at risk. The consequences of flash floods in densely populated cities are increasingly becoming problematic around the globe. However, they are largely ignored in disaster impact assessment studies, especially in assessing socioeconomic loss and damage, which can provide a significant insight for disaster risk reduction measures. Using a structured questionnaire survey, this study applied a statistical approach and developed a structural equation model (SEM) for assessing several socioeconomic dimensions including physical impacts, mobility disruption, lifeline facilities, health and income-related impacts. The study reveals that respondents have experienced a stronger impact on direct tangible elements such as household contents and buildings as well as direct intangible elements with beta coefficients 0.703, 0.576 and 0.635, respectively, at p < 0:001 level. The direct intangible impacts affect mobility disruption with beta coefficients equal to 0.701 at p < 0:001 level which then further cause adversity to income-generating activities with beta 0.316 at significant p < 0:001 as well. The overall model fit indices show highly acceptable scores of SRMR 0.068, RMSEA 0.055 and PClose 0.092. Thus, the SEM has successfully incorporated the socioeconomic dimensions of disaster impact and explained the impact phenomena reliably. This modeling approach will allow inclusion of various variables from different disciplines to assess hazard impact, vulnerability and resilience.

Automated summary

Small-scale flash flood events are climate-related disasters that pose risks to various aspects of the system. While the consequences of flash floods in densely populated cities are increasingly problematic globally, they are often overlooked in disaster impact assessment studies, particularly in assessing socioeconomic loss and damage. A structural equation model (SEM) was developed in this study to assess socioeconomic dimensions, showing direct tangible and intangible impacts with significant beta coefficients, leading to disruptions in mobility and income-generating activities.